On and Off the Record

By WILLIAM A. HENRY III

Reporters wrestle with rules for attribution

Ann Devroy of the Gannett News Service was in Santa Barbara with much of the rest of the White House press corps when word began to circulate that President Reagan had joked about bombing the Soviet Union while testing his microphone for a radio speech. Two TV networks, CBS and Cable News Network, had the quip on tape but felt obliged not to air it because of a longstanding agreement with other broadcasters that Reagan's warmup sessions were off the record. As a print reporter, however, Devroy was under no such constraint. After hunting down what Reagan had said, she consulted with her editors and they sent the item out on the Gannett wire. Within a day the story was being carried by every major news organization, including the two networks that had it to begin with but felt free to use it only after someone else had broken the off-the-record boundary.

A day later, debate over reportorial rules extended to the Democratic nominee, Walter Mondale. Bowing to pressure from some journalists, and over the objections of others, he dropped a proviso that activities aboard his plane must be kept off the record. The impact was immediate: when Mondale complained to an aide about his difficulties with Jesse Jackson, he was overheard by a reporter and his remarks were published nationwide.

New York Times Columnist William Safire joined the debate last Thursday by declining, in print, an invitation to have drinks with Reagan and a few other journalists in the Oval Office. That session too was to be off the record, a practice that Safire described in a column as "a pernicious conspiracy to protect candidates for high office that entices reporters to become insiders and leaves the public out side."The conservative Safire, who has generally supported Reagan, added: "I want my questions answered by an alert and experienced politician, prepared to be grilled and quoted--not my hand held by an old smoothie."

Those events last week may have been signs that reporters are beginning to flex their muscles after a relatively sedate primary season. But they also reflected an age-old controversy over who controls the flow of news. Politicians, particularly during campaigns, structure their schedules to communicate carefully chosen messages. Reporters rightly insist on making their own judgments about news rather than merely being conduits for what politicians want publicized.

Mondale's off-the-record rule, although unusual in a national campaign, had been in effect since he ran for Vice President in 1976, and was sternly enforced this year: reporters who wanted to use his remarks on the plane sought clearance, and a news photographer was barred from further travel after taking pictures without permission. One of Mondale's concerns, aides said, was to avoid being photographed smoking a cigar or sipping an occasional glass of Scotch.

Journalists complied, even though the money they pay for their seats helps the campaign book larger, faster planes.

Many actually support such ground rules, because they enable reporters to talk to a candidate informally and prevent the plane from turning into a jostling, camera-dominated flying press conference.

Reporters generally honor commitments to keep matters off the record or on background. When a remark is considered particularly newsworthy and the ground rules are ambiguous, it becomes a judgment call; reporters went public when Jesse Jackson referred to Jews as "Hymies." Of late, journalists have wondered whether they were too ready to agree to off-the-record arrangements, particularly in campaign coverage. The New York Times, which did not publicly challenge Mondale's rules during the primaries, helped force the change for the general-election campaign. Said Executive Editor A.M. Rosenthal: "We cannot accept a blanket off-the-record edict on the coverage of a presidential candidate." CBS News President Edward Joyce last week informed his correspondents that he will review all existing arrangements. Said a CBS spokesman: "We will evaluate each candidate's request separately, and our policy will vary."

Mondale's running mate, Geraldine Ferraro, stuck to her rule that activities aboard her smaller and less private campaign plane must be kept off the record.

New York Times Reporter Jane Perlez, among others, said she would not agree to such guidelines, leaving Ferraro aides pondering the impasse. Ferraro echoed a common complaint among politicians, that campaign-plane reporters live in a hothouse atmosphere and tend to focus on gaffes more than a candidate's main points. Said Ferraro: "I do not want the lid lifted off this plane. I can't spend the entire campaign trip explaining silly, off-the-cuff remarks."

--By William A. Henry III. Reported by Sam Allis, with Mondale, and Kathleen Brady/New York

With reporting by Sam Allis, Kathleen Brady